More than 10 years after modernizing one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, "Hamlet," filmmaker Michael Almereyda and actor Ethan Hawke have turned their revisionist attention to one of the Bard's lesser-known works, the ambiguous historical drama "Cymbeline."

The new movie adaptation, which recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival, is scheduled to open in the U.S. in 2015. Some of the early buzz has pegged the movie as Shakespeare meets "Sons of Anarchy," with its contemporary milieu of bikers, booze and bad hair.

CaptionNeil Patrick Harris | 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'

Joan Marcus / Boneau/Bryan-Brown

Four-time Tony Awards host Neil Patrick Harris returned to Broadway after the end of his long-running TV series "How I Met Your Mother" to play Hedwig in the first Broadway production of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." The production opened April 22 at the Belasco Theatre.

Four-time Tony Awards host Neil Patrick Harris returned to Broadway after the end of his long-running TV series "How I Met Your Mother" to play Hedwig in the first Broadway production of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." The production opened April 22 at the Belasco Theatre. (Joan Marcus / Boneau/Bryan-Brown)

Michelle Williams made her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles in April as part of the revival of the revival of "Cabaret." The production also features Alan Cumming, who was part of the 1998 revival, reprising his role as the decadent Master of Ceremonies.

Michelle Williams made her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles in April as part of the revival of the revival of "Cabaret." The production also features Alan Cumming, who was part of the 1998 revival, reprising his role as the decadent Master of Ceremonies. (Joan Marcus / Polk & Co.)

Four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening is no stranger to the stage having started her acting career in theater. Above, Bening performs a compilation of four Ruth Draper vignettes in "Ruth Draper's Monologues," scheduled to run through May 18 at the Geffen Playhouse. REVIEW: Annette Bening pays...

Four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening is no stranger to the stage having started her acting career in theater. Above, Bening performs a compilation of four Ruth Draper vignettes in "Ruth Draper's Monologues," scheduled to run through May 18 at the Geffen Playhouse. REVIEW: Annette Bening pays... (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Zach Braff, left, with Nick Cordero, made his Broadway debut as David Shayne in the stage adaptation of Woody Allen's 1994 film "Bullets Over Broadway." Braff's breakout role was playing Dr. John Dorian in the long-running television series "Scrubs." REVIEW: 'Bullets Over Broadway' misses the...

Zach Braff, left, with Nick Cordero, made his Broadway debut as David Shayne in the stage adaptation of Woody Allen's 1994 film "Bullets Over Broadway." Braff's breakout role was playing Dr. John Dorian in the long-running television series "Scrubs." REVIEW: 'Bullets Over Broadway' misses the... (Paul Kolnik)

Ed Harris plays the title character, who in the original play is a monarch but in the new movie is the leader of a gang of bikers in a small, blue-collar town. His daughter (Dakota Johnson) has secretly married, setting in motion a series of conspiracies and wicked plots. Hawke plays the supporting character Iachimo, who complicates the scenario.

Shakespearean experts have frequently labeled "Cymbeline" as a "problem" play, which means that it doesn't fit neatly into the comedy or tragedy categories. The drama, which was one of Shakespeare's last, is believed to have been based on ancient Celtic legends.

Reviews of Almereyda's new movie from Venice so far have been harsh, with the Hollywood Reporter noting that the "central conceit simply doesn’t hang together well enough to create credible dramatic stakes."

A review from Variety concluded that the "interpretation feels more out-of-time than ever," though the "film dazzles with its colors and textures."

Almereyda's "Hamlet," which was released in 2000, set the tragic play in contemporary New York, with Hawke playing the title character as a disaffected hipster rebelling against his corporate parents.